45th Annual NCGA Four-Ball Net Championship

Poppy Hills GC/Spyglass Hill GC
June 25-26, 2012

PEBBLE BEACH – The unlikely duo of Kris Kamerzell and Mark Hoerner of Paradise Valley GC have quite a story to tell their friends back in the North Bay. Aside from the fact that the pair entered the second day of the 45th Annual Four Ball Net Championship at Spyglass Hill seven strokes out of the lead, Kamerzell and Hoerner had only played together three times before qualifying for the championship and now they can call themselves NCGA champions.

Hoerner entered qualifying as an alternate to Kamerzell’s regular playing partner and exited fulfilling a longstanding goal of just reaching the championship field.

“I’ve been trying to get to the finals for 20 years,” Hoerner said. “I had no expectations to win, I just wanted to get here. So it means everything to me (to win).”

Hoerner and Kamerzell coupled their first-round net 63 with a second-round score of the same to finish with a 36-hole net 126. In true ham and egg fashion, Kamerzell contributed a net eagle to the scorecard on the 345-yard, par-4 fourth hole and Hoerner returned the favor by adding a net eagle on No. 6 to help bring the pair to the turn with a net 31.

Hoerner and Kamerzell got their first taste of the lead on the 16th hole of the day. After dropping a stroke on the 12th, they closed out the round with four consecutive net birdies. This powerful closing stretch gave them just enough juice to overcome the two sub-60 rounds from the first day of competition to earn top honors.

After a cardoff for the remaining medalist spots, second place went to the Day 1 leaders, Travis Early and Justin Graham from Shelter Cove GC. Early and Graham combined their first-round net 56 with a net 72 to come in with a net 128. Joseph Puccinelli and Jeff Dibenedetto of Monterey GC earned third after posting a net 59-69–128, two strokes out of the top spot in the championship.

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June 25, 2012

PEBBLE BEACH – The pairing of Travis Early and Justin Graham of Shelter Cove GC raced to the top of the pack at the 45th Annual Four-Ball Net Championship at Poppy Hills GC.

Early and Gilbert started the day on No. 10 and promptly got to work putting their number in the red. After net birdies on their first and third holes of the day, the duo added a net eagle on No. 13, a 371-yard par 4. Their score kept dropping with three more net birdies before rounding the turn.

Early and Gilbert capped off their round in fantastic fashion, with a net double eagle on the par 4 seventh hole after it took Early but two strokes to get the ball 351 yards. A net eagle rolled in by Graham at the ninth brought the pair in with a net 27 on their final nine holes and atop the leaderboard with a net 16-under 56 for the round. According to records, this opening-round net 56 is the lowest score recorded in the championship.

Early and Graham weren’t the only team to break the net 60 mark on the first day of competition. Monterey Bay GC’s Joseph Puccinelli and Jeff Dibenedetto finished the day in second after posting a net 59. Puccinelli and Dibenedetto started off the action with a net bogey on the first hole, but quickly rebounded with a net eagle on the second. The pair raced through the front nine with a net 28. Puccinelli and Dibenedetto added five more birdies on the back nine including a string of three consecutive on Nos. 14-16 to finish with a net 13-under 59.

Close behind is the duo of James Nye and Ken Willis who posted a net 11-under round. Nye and Willis of Wildhawk GC began their day net birdie-bogey before gaining seven strokes in the final seven holes of their front nine after starting on the 10th. Momentum stalled on the back nine with a string of four consecutive net pars. Nye and Willis managed to finish with a bang, however, closing the round with a net birdie on the eighth hole and a net eagle on the ninth to stand in third with a net 61.

Remarkably, only seven teams posted over-par scores in the first round of the tournament. The field of 60 teams in the two-person better ball championship will play tomorrow’s final round at Spyglass Hill, with tee times beginning at 7:30 a.m.